


At Least Two-Thirds Fine

by PermanentlyChilled (orphan_account)



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, Kidnapping, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/PermanentlyChilled
Summary: The doctor looked at him disapprovingly over his glasses. “At least twenty of your bones are not broken.”“That’s thebadnews?” he laughed, grinning at Amy. “I mean, how many are there in the body, like thirty? I’m two thirds fine!”“Oh, Pineapples,” she murmured, shaking her head.One-shot started after episode 2.20: AC/DC. Abandoned; fic hasn't been written in its entirety but incomplete parts are still outlined within the text.
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Kudos: 25





	At Least Two-Thirds Fine

**Author's Note:**

> 'Sup, lads, I started a new pseud to post fics that will make people mad. I.e, all incompletes that I doubt I'll ever ever finish.
> 
> I should probably just toss these entirely tbh, but when you've put any amount of time into writing something it kind of feels sad to chuck it, you know? Especially when you're semi-proud of what you managed to get done, or think there was a good idea there.
> 
> A note about these incomplete stories:
> 
> Obviously these are rarely gonna be indicative of my best writing- though I might clean them up slightly before posting they won't have had the same rigorous editing as my main fics, and several of them may date back a few years to before my writing skill/understanding of the characters had properly developed.
> 
> I welcome comments, obviously- who doesn't?- but please none of the pushy 'finish this!' variety- we've already established that's probably not gonna happen. The nice thing about keeping these fics, of course, is I CAN revisit them in future if the mood takes me, but the main point of this exercise is to draw a line under them and make room for new things in my head. I will probably not pick these stories up again; if, however, YOU would like to, go right ahead, write to your heart's content! I'd quite like to see it if you end up finishing what I started ^^
> 
> Fics are presented as the entirety of what I had written when I abandoned them- which includes plans/outlines for the rest of the fic as I would have written it, if I made such plans. These outline sections will be depicted in bold and italic font.
> 
> This is one of my earliest B99 fic attempts, written during (or maybe just after?) s2- enjoy <3

“Jake!” Amy exclaimed, eyes widening as she saw him lying in the hospital bed. “Oh my God, I heard what happened- are you okay?”

Jake shrugged, wincing as the small motion jogged several injuries. “Meh. I’ve had better days.”

Amy dropped down into a chair by the bed, concern and disapproval warring on her face. “What were you _thinking?_ You were supposed to be recovering, not chasing perps- you could’ve been killed!”

“It was that or die of boredom?” he said, the rising inflection suggesting that he wanted to lighten the mood but couldn’t decide if it was appropriate.

But rather than chew him out further, Amy just rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

That brought his goofy grin right back. “You mean I’m a sexy bad-boy warrior of the law, bravely self-sacrificing in the name of justice? You got me,” Something caught his eye over her shoulder and he straightened up (with a pained wince he did a sucky job at hiding). Amy turned her head to see his doctor enter the room, flicking through his chart with a frown.

“What’s the prognosis, Doc?” Jake asked cheerily. “Can I go chase more bad guys yet?”

“Would you like the good news or the bad news first?” the doctor asked, ignoring the question.

“Well no one wants bad news,” Jake said as if it should be obvious.

The doctor looked at him disapprovingly over his glasses. “At least twenty of your bones are _not_ broken.”

“That’s the _bad_ news?” he laughed, grinning at Amy. “I mean, how many are there in the body, like thirty? I’m two thirds fine!”

“Oh, Pineapples,” she murmured, shaking her head.

“The _actual_ bad news,” the doctor continued, eyeing Jake’s fidgeting with dissatisfaction. “Is we’re going to have to keep you under observation for a couple of days, and you’ll be off your feet for at least the next three weeks, although my advice would be to lie low for a month minimum.”

Jake pouted- actually _pouted._ “But _doooooooooc!”_

“Don’t argue with the nice doctor, Jake,” Amy chastised, patting his head as if he were a small child. Or a dog. “Thank you, Doctor, we’ll make sure he doesn’t overstretch himself.”

“We just need to take some contact details regarding next-of-kin,” the doctor, turning to Amy having decided she’d be much easier to get proper answers from. “Are you Mr. Peralta’s partner?”

“Yes,” she said, eyes widening as she belated realised what he’d meant. “Oh, no! I mean yes, we’re partners, I mean we work together, but _no,_ we’re not, uh-!”

“No, doctor, we are not,” Jake finished for her, staring at her flustered face with an expression that might almost be interpreted as fond. “Miss Santiago is good friend-slash-work colleague of mine.”

“I see,” the doctor nodded, scribbling on his pad. “Well, you’re going to need someone to stay with you for a few weeks while you recover- do you have any relatives nearby? A girlfriend?”

“Uhhhhh…” Jake said, racking his brains. His mom was still away, no way he was calling his dad. Maybe he could ask Gina-

“It’s fine, doctor,” Amy said, standing up. “He can stay with me.”

Jake did a (very painful) double take. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, taking the clipboard handed to her by the doctor and writing out her contact information. “Don’t want you slipping in the shower and knocking out what’s left of your brain.”

“How charitable of you,” he said dryly, hoping the blush at the thought of Amy in the shower with him didn’t show. Hopefully she’d just assume it was some localised internal bleeding.

“We’ll contact you when he’s ready to leave,” the doctor said to her, nodding his head as he checked the details she handed back to him. “You should get the call within a week, all being well.”

“I’ll make up the spare room,” she said, turning and glowering at Jake as he opened his mouth to protest. “I’ll look after you, Peralta, but not in that shoebox you call an apartment. I’m not spending the next three weeks sharing your couch with the rats.”

“Fine, but I pick the Netflix viewing,” he called after her as she swept from the room.

* * *

“I think I finally get you now,” Jake grinned, flicking through Amy’s Netflix gleefully. “Is this how you felt snooping in Holt’s DVR? I see the appeal, it’s like reading a diary but less creepy.”

“My friend Kylie picks stuff to watch, too,” she said defensively, tutting at his feet on her table but knowing that if she told him to put them down they’d be back up within the minute.

“Uh-huh, sure,” he smirked. “So which did you prefer- Elementary or Sherlock?”

“Elementary,” she said, not missing a beat.

“Ooh, intriguing,” he said. “Niche.”

She shrugged. “Well, I think Mr. Cheekbones is overrated,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “He’s so rude.”

“Forgot you were so hot for good manners,” Jake chuckled, eventually plumping for Captain America as Amy sat by his side with a freshly made bowl of popcorn.

“Shut up,” she muttered, practically shoving the bowl into his face to smother his obnoxious grin. “Watch the damn movie.”

He finally decided to shut his mouth long enough for them to enjoy the first half hour in peaceful silence, and Amy had to catch herself as she realised she was just the tiniest space away from leaning on his shoulder. The last time she’d had intimate little movie nights like this was with Teddy, and she’d grown pretty used to the casual cuddling. It was a testament to Jake’s attempts to be mature that she felt so ready to lean into him.

They were coming towards the end of the first week of his stay, and though he was recovering quickly there was no way he’d be back at work anytime soon. She could tell it was getting to him- when she came home from work every evening he was antsy from being cooped up alone all day. He seemed to calm down with her around, though. Should she be reading stuff into that?

It was a weirdly domestic situation they’d found themselves in- settling in to watch movies every night, her fetching the snacks while he trawled through the options, sitting close but not quite touching, well within arm’s reach should either of them decide to reach out. Not that they would. Obviously.

But slight undercurrent of tension aside, Amy was glad. Honestly things had felt a little strained with them for a while- ever since he’d come back from undercover, and especially after the road trip and their break-ups, they’d never quite settled in with each other the same way. Technically they hadn’t even been assigned as full-time partners since his return, having never requested it. It had just never come up, and they still worked together on some cases.

But this? This felt comfortable, safe. Normal. Weird domesticity notwithstanding, it felt like being reunited. ‘Old School Stylez’, as Jake might say.

“So,” he said, breaking through her thoughts. “If you had to pick- Steve Rogers or Peggy Carter?”

“Steve,” she said, rolling her eyes. She wasn’t ‘that way inclined’, no matter how much he and Gina liked to tease her about the pantsuits. “You?”

He frowned. “Depends- pre or post-serum Steve?”

“Either.”

He glowered at the screen, mulling over the impossible question he’d brought upon himself. “Uh… Ah, heck, I don’t know, can’t I just have them both?”

“Those weren’t the terms of the question,” she teased, and he stuck his tongue out at her. Jeez, was he twelve?

“Gina would’ve said yes,” he moped, flicking a bit of popcorn at her head.

“Only if you told her she could watch,” Amy muttered.

Jake burst into loud guffaws, and Amy almost forgot to be annoyed for the rest of the night.

* * *

“Can’t we just get take-out?” Jake whined, poking at the food on his plate with his fork.

“I just cooked!” Amy said indignantly, gesturing broadly to the modest spread over the coffee table. “I’m not about to toss it all in the trash.”

“Never say never,” Jake mumbled, dodging the pillow she threw at his head. “Alright, alright, we’ll eat this _lovely_ … what is this?”

“It’s pizza,” she said sternly. “Ham and pineapple.”

“This is _pizza?”_ Jake exclaimed, scooping up a morsel and eyeing it warily. “I thought it was an omelette…”

“Oh, just shut up and eat,” she muttered.

Jake raised his plate towards her in some sort of mock-toast. “Cheers,” he said dryly, before cramming in a mouthful at the same time she took her first careful bite.

They promptly spat out their mouthfuls in almost perfect unison.

“Urgh!” Jake spluttered.

“Mmm-ph!” Amy choked.

They shared a glance.

“Dominoes?” they said together. “Jinx!”

* * *

“So, one more day ‘til work,” Amy smiled, handing Peralta his coffee as she perched on the couch beside him. “Excited?”

“Woah, there, tiger,” Jake chuckled, taking a sip. “I’m not there just yet- I owe Boyle a make-up AC trip first. I’m taking two more sick days.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. You’re really taking the Sarge’s advice to heart, huh?”

He shrugged. “He knows what he’s talking about. Besides, guess it was pretty dumb of me to get so beaten up in the first place, time to man up and face the consequences.”

“Two days doing taffy crawls with Boyle,” Amy smirked. “Torture.”

Jake shuddered, almost spilling his coffee all over her couch. Not that he really would- he’d actually done a surprisingly good job at respecting her furniture since he’d got there. He hadn’t majorly Jaked anything up in weeks (and the curry incident was her fault, really). “Yeah. Well, just two more days and then we’re back to the good old days of gory murders and drug busts.”

“You have a unique outlook on life, Jake,” she smiled, making him grin.

“That’s so weird, I said the exact same thing to Rosa a while back- well, uh, not the exact same thing, but…” he actually _blushed._ “Not important. Need more sugar.”

Amy frowned as he bolted for the kitchen. Honestly, she had no idea where she stood with him half the time. The slightest thing could send him skittering away like a spooked pony. It was only made more jarring by the fact that they’d otherwise been getting along so well lately- with all his medically mandated nights on the couch and their Netflix movie marathons, it was probably the closest they’d ever been. It just felt… nice. So nice, in fact, that she hadn’t even mentioned it when in the final week of his recovery he’d continued to crash in her guest bedroom even though he was more than healthy enough to go home. It never seemed to occur to him, and she felt no need to hurry him off. Who knew when they’d get to spend time together like this again?

“Ames?”

She looked up to find Jake hovering at the other end of the couch, coffee still in hand. He was looking at her, and if she had to describe the look on his face she’d say it was nervous gratitude.

“Yeah?” she said, a little smile tugging her lips as he fidgeted.

“Thanks,” he said, sincerity outweighing the usual Peralta cockiness. “For everything. Letting me crash here, helping me out- not that I needed help, but…” he shrugged, and his smile was back. “These last three weeks sucked a lot less with you around.”

Something about the not-quite-goofy grin set the butterflies in her stomach fluttering. “You’re welcome,” she smiled, holding her mug to her chest over her rapidly beating heart. “You… weren’t as annoying as I thought you’d be.”

For once he didn’t respond with a wisecrack or cocky remark- just an oddly sweet smile and a nod on his way to the kitchen to nuke his coffee with sugar. It wasn’t until he was at the counter with his back turned that she allowed her smile to drop. It had been nice having him all to herself, re-building their old comradery, and as irritating as he could be she was going to miss having him around. But he couldn’t stay in her spare room forever.

Time to get back to reality.

* * *

* * *

* * *

**_Amy returns to work as Jake goes on his make-up AC trip with Boyle. Her and Jake haven’t been partnered up on many cases lately- after he came back from undercover he was never officially re-designated as her partner. She asks Terry to rectify that, thinking they’re ready to be full-time partners again, and Terry is happy- although he asks her if she’s sure it won’t be awkward. She asks him why he’d think that, and finds out Jake had been talking to him about his feelings for her. She tells him she’s sure, but winds up with a lot to think about. How many people know about this, and is it still the case?_ **

**_A few days later Jake is on his way to work, after pretending to be really into their trip when in reality he spent much of the time thinking about Amy. He’s started to realise his feelings may have gone from a pesky crush into something a little more serious, but he’s not sure he wants to act on it since it seems they’ve finally bonded again ‘old-school stylez’. He gets back to the precinct to find out that he and Amy have been officially re-partnered, and he’s happy- but also frustrated because it’s even harder to hide a crush from your detective partner. Terry mentions that Amy requested they be reassigned to each other, and Jake lets his mind spin with the possibilities before deciding she probably just misses how well they worked together._ **

**_On a case with Det. Dave Majors, Jake gets jealous as the new guy talks about asking Amy out. He realises he really doesn’t have a leg to stand on- he’s the one who still hasn’t asked her out after all. After talking to Rosa he decides he needs to tell her how he feels, but then he gets a call from Dave- Amy was taken hostage by one of their perps._ **

**_Amy winds up locked in a small, dark cellar by their perp. She’s panicking, claustrophobic, and desperately crying into her walkie talkie for backup, unsure of whether Jake or Dave can hear her. She has a lot of time to think locked in the cellar, about Dave who just sort of asked her if she wanted to go out sometime, about how she told him she’d think about it. He’s a great detective, and he’s handsome and nice and great, but something’s holding her back. Eventually the door opens, and when she sees that it’s Jake she flings herself into his arms, realising he was exactly who she was hoping would find her._ **

**_Wrapping up the case, Dave asks her out but she politely declines. Later Jake checks up on her, she explains and says she has a new rule- no dating cops. He tells her it’s a good rule, and she says she’s surprised to hear him say that- isn’t he always telling her rules are made to be broken? Slightly flustered, Jake makes his excuses and leaves, leaving Amy nervous._ **

**_Amy is working late, Rosa checking if she’s okay. She’s worried she scared Jake off, and is trying to take her mind off it. Eventually she’s the only one left in the office, and she goes to put her files away. Jake turns up, looking determined, telling her he respects her rule and her right to follow it- but if he said I love you, would that be a big enough loophole? Amy tells him she thinks she could make an exception._ **


End file.
